During the 49-minute episode released on Wednesday, the former first lady and first black president of the US discussed defending social justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the importance of the younger generation getting involved politically and the family. The Obamas, who received their law degrees from Harvard University, also emphasized that the perspective they gained from their experiences influenced their passion for political advocacy in their communities.
Barack Obama, who was the first African American to serve as president of the Harvard Law Review, said his education at Harvard gave him the “credentials and security” to work in the community organization.
“I think once I got to school, I found out that if I pursue my own success, somehow I will end up alone and unhappy,” he said. “And that’s why I ended up going to community organizing and the work I was doing because when I thought about how I wanted to spend my life, what I saw was what those civil rights workers had done … And the freedom runners I had. And I thought, you know, it seems like hard work but it never seems like lonely work. That seems like hard and risky work, but it never seems like selfish, isolated and meaningless work. “
He later said, “So, but what Harvard education gave me, the real ticket I hit was not chasing all the money I wanted. What I bought was enough credentials and security to drive me crazy about things I wanted to do in terms of working in neighborhoods, entering politics, all that, “said the former president. “Knowing I had enough floor under me, it was going to be fine.”
Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Michelle Obama spoke about working as a junior associate for Sidley Austin, a city law firm, and the loneliness she felt looking at the neighborhood where she came from.
“I was on the track. I was checking my boxes. Because I was doing what I thought and thought I had to do because I was a poor child. So I didn’t feel like I had the option to go and do other things,” she said. “But I also had a limited vision of what it could be because schools don’t show you the world, they just show you a lot of careers. But I got to learn the same thing you learned while working on the 47th floor in that
She continued, “And it felt isolated. And you know, I had this incredible view of the southeast side of the city from my office,” he said. “I was able to see the lake and I was able to see the entire neighborhood that I had come from. And I never felt further from that neighborhood than when I was sitting in that office working on underpants and cases that had nothing to do with anything that would help another group. wide of people outside of me. “
Speaking about youth and government, Michelle Obama said she is hopeful when looking at youth, but is concerned that she often hears “too many young people questioning whether to vote, whether politics is worth it.”
“Well, partly because they have been told. The message is sent every day that the government does not work,” replied Barack Obama. “They take for granted all the things that a working government has done in the past … somehow, we are still living off the investment that great generation made.”
The former first lady joked that some young people know more about the cereal they are eating than what the government is doing because the government has no marketing budgets. Both agreed that it seems that the moment when young people understand what is happening in government is when it is not working and Barack Obama added: “So we are learning a good lesson right now.”
Then he added: “The danger for this generation is that they have become too cynical in government. Without understanding that the entire government is, we are collectively making decisions together,” he said.
But the former president said at the end of the day, “I think people are going to do the right thing.”
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